Roquentin

Throane – Plus une main à mordre Review

By Roquentin on October 25, 2017 in 2017, Avante Garde, Black Metal, Debemur Morti, Drone, French Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, 16 comments

“In retrospect, Throane’s tantalizing début Derrière-Nous, La Lumière is one of those records whose piercing splinters, given time to gestate, have a tendency to deeply ingrain themselves into thoughts. Almost imperceptible at first, its monochromatic strokes paint uncomfortable rooms of the mind. Rooms filled with anguish and darkness, shaped equally by fears of the void and an existential dread of the mundane. Spaces hidden behind walls upon walls, repressed but always present. The idea of revisiting this world is one that is simultaneously exhilarating and frightening.” Splinters in the mind’s eye.

BIG|BRAVE – Ardor Review

By Roquentin on September 15, 2017 in 2017, Canadian Metal, Doom Metal, Drone, Experimental Metal, Post-metal, Post-Rock, Reviews, Southern Lord, Doom Metal, Experimental Metal, Noise Metal, Post-Metal, 52 comments

“Ardor, the third full-length by Montrealers BIG|BRAVE opens with a sustained, unending riff. As it reverberates eerily, it suggests that the trio picked up right where they left off with their sophomore release Au De La, veering even further into fields of textures and sparse instrumentation. Their signature sound is a combination of elements from multiple genres and idioms, from post-rock to drone, shaped into an experimental, caustic, and often hermetic concoction.” Bliss in the abyss.

Nexul – Paradigm of Chaos Review

By Roquentin on July 28, 2017 in 2017, American Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, Hells Headbangers Records, Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 14 comments

“There is something surprisingly comforting, dare I say nostalgic, in Nexul’s punishing full-length début Paradigm of Chaos. Perhaps it’s the wistfulness attached to the band’s raw, hissy black/death metal approach and over-the-top Luciferian imagery. Their music today appears as an echo of a homicidal time and place which the genre occupied during its infancy. As if a splinter of the heartfelt occult hatefulness of the early Norwegian black metal scene somehow made its way to El Paso, Texas.” Morbid tourist.

Municipal Waste – Slime and Punishment Review

By Roquentin on June 21, 2017 in 2017, American Metal, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Thrash Metal, 23 comments

“Take a look at this Donald Trump inspired t-shirt released in early 2016. That was the first time that I had heard of Virginia’s crossover-thrash outfit Municipal Waste since their 2012 solid, but uninspired album The Fatal Feast (Waste in Space). While they released a couple of splits and EPs during the four years in-between, it was that stunt—a year later apparently more relevant than ever—that brought the (metal) public’s spotlight back on them.” Under new waste management.

Nightrage – The Venomous Review

By Roquentin on April 17, 2017 in 2017, Death Metal, Despotz Records, Greek Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 52 comments

“Sometimes, context is everything. Take Greek/Swedish melodeath stalwarts Nightrage and their 2005 release, Descent into Chaos. During a time when our digital voraciousness was yet gestating, the general availability of music limited, and my taste still fully receptive of Gothenburg metal, the subjective value of that objectively passable album became immense. Great riffs and melodies, catchy hooks, and an innate sort of aggressiveness bedazzled me. Listening to it today, it sounds good, if unremarkable and most certainly not at the level of some of the classics of the genre. Context, like I said, matters the most.” Nostalgia has limits.

Venenum – Trance of Death Review

By Roquentin on March 19, 2017 in 2017, Black Metal, Death Metal, German Metal, Reviews, Sepulchral Voice Records, Black Metal, Death Metal, 70 comments

“A lone cello sings a mournful melody in a minor key. Fluttering piano touches accentuate the subtle tremolando strings. The folksy piece develops patiently, oscillating between an ambient sort of vagueness and a nervous incisiveness. While the surprising first two and a half minutes of Bavaria’s Venenum’s full-length début Trance of Death stand in contrast with the carnage that will follow, they are also perfect archetypes of the eclecticism and compositional strength of the release as a whole.” Carnage before cello, never mellow. Cello before carnage, happy carcass.

Svart Crown – Abreaction Review

By Roquentin on March 4, 2017 in 2017, Black Metal, Century Media, Death Metal, French Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 32 comments

“‘Malevolence.’ That word resonated through my mind as I listened to the fourth full-length by French death/black outfit Svart Crown. A word so mundane and exploited in adjective-laden reviews that it appears frivolous when used to describe metal. Yet, when Abreaction is concerned, the seeping and creeping feeling suggested by the word seems almost palpable, venturing beyond just a cool appellation and into territories of real unease.” You merely adopted the evil.

The Ominous Circle – Appalling Ascension Review

By Roquentin on January 22, 2017 in 20 Buck Spin, 2017, Death Metal, Osmose Productions, Portuguese Metal, Reviews, Death Metal, 47 comments

“The disturbing rumble of old school, dark and brooding death metal is a familiar one. Burrowing, buzzing riffs, inhuman growls, and tumultuous drums and bass lines are encased in a constant, over-the-top imagery of torture and dread. But why are we so attracted to this blacker than black despair and sense of suffocation?” Embrace the horrors.

Mizmor – Yodh [Things You Might Have Missed 2016]

By Roquentin on December 24, 2016 in 2016, American Metal, Black Metal, Doom Metal, Drone, Gilead Media, Reviews, Things You Might Have Missed 2016, Black Metal, Doom Metal, Drone, 25 comments

“Even before hearing a single note from Portland, Oregon’s one-man blackened doom psalmist Mizmor (מזמור), the striking cover art of Yodh—a reproduction of an artwork by Polish artist Zdzisław Beksiński—tells us everything we need to know. The two faces in a desolate dystopian landscape, robbed of their distinguishing features and reduced to mute, expressionless monoliths, speak to our subconscious selves.” Woe to the world, the doom has come.

Schammasch – Triangle [Things You Might Have Missed 2016]

By Roquentin on December 18, 2016 in 2016, Ambient Metal, Avante Garde, Black Metal, Doom Metal, Post-metal, Prosthetic Records, Reviews, Swiss Metal, Things You Might Have Missed 2016, Ambient, Black Metal, Post-Metal, 31 comments

“Based on vocalist and guitarist Chris S.R.’s amalgamation of a number of religions and philosophies, Triangle is a sprawling, grandiose effort that bridges progressive black metal, progressive rock, post-rock, and ambient music, while hinting towards a deeply personal struggle.” A triple album again? Why do we do this to AMG?